How to fix battery that is draining so quickly on an iPhone 7 after installing latest iOS 11 version [Troubleshooting Guide]

When it comes to post-update problems among iOS devices, battery draining problem emerges as one of the common concerns. This is usually triggered by some apps that have gone rogue after the update or due to some power-consuming settings that were automatically enabled by the update. This means that the problem is fixable unless hardware damage is also present.

To give you some inputs on how to deal with this problem, I’ve mapped out some potential solutions to a problem on rapid battery draining, which particularly affects the iPhone 7 handset after implementing the latest version of the iOS 11 platform (11.4.1). Feel free to refer to this context whenever you need more help in resolving the issue on the same device.

Now, before anything else, if you have other issues with your phone, make sure you drop by our troubleshooting page for we have already provided solutions to hundreds of problems reported by our readers. Odds are that we may have already provided a solution to the problem you currently have so try to find issues that are similar with yours on that page and feel free to use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work or if you need further assistance, fill up our iPhone issues questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.

First solution: Clear all background apps then soft reset.

As mentioned earlier, rogue apps are usually the main trigger. Certain apps particularly those that are in standby mode or background apps might have been corrupted from the update and that eventually caused them to consume much power that they used to. As resolution, clearing background apps is recommended. If there are no background apps to clear, then check the battery usage on your iPhone and see which apps are using up the most of your iPhone power. If you see any unusual power consumption by an app, then clearing that app can help. Otherwise, have the errant app disabled or uninstalled. Here’s how to clear apps on your iPhone 7:

Press the Home button twice quickly. Doing so will launch a new screen containing a list of recently used apps that aren’t closed.

Swipe up on an app’s preview to force close or clear individual apps. Do the same to clear the rest of background apps.

After clearing background and errant apps, reboot or soft reset your iPhone to clear the internal memory and refresh the system. This also helps clear minor software errors that may also contribute to rapid battery draining. Here’s how it’s done:

Press and hold the Power button for a few seconds until the Slide to Power Off command appears.

Then drag the power off slider to the right to shut down your iPhone completely.

After 30 seconds, press the Power button again until the Apple logo appears.

This won’t affect any data you saved on the internal memory, and so you don’t need to back up files beforehand.

Second solution: Install pending app updates.

Apps that might have gone rogue from an update can also be remedied by updating them. Like iOS updates, app updates also offer bug fixes to keep them at their optimum performance. To manually check for and install pending app updates on your iPhone 7, follow these steps:

Tap the App Store icon from the Home screen.

From the App Store main screen, tap the Updates icon at the bottom right. A list of apps with pending updates then shows up on the screen.

Tap the Update button next to an application to update apps individually or tap the Update All button on the upper right of the screen to install all pending app updates at once.

To make sure that all new app changes are properly implemented, reboot or soft reset your iPhone once all apps are finished updating.

Third solution: Reset all settings on your iPhone 7.

Some iOS updates would automatically override system settings on the phone. If this happens, there is a tendency that some options ended up set with conflicts and errors. And this can affect system functions of your phone. In this case, it’s possible the battery system is afflicted by the changes. To clear this out, try to reset all settings on your iPhone 7. Doing so will clear current system settings on the phone, thus allow you to configure individual options and enable features based on your previous preferences. Here’s how it’s done:

Tap Settings from the Home screen.

Tap General.

Scroll to and tap Reset.

Select Reset all settings from the given options.

If prompted, enter your device passcode to continue.

Then tap to confirm settings reset.

Allow your device to restart when the system settings reset is finished. Then you can start configuring your iPhone settings again. Unlike a factory reset, this won’t affect saved data on your phone’s internal memory.

Fourth solution: Restore your iPhone 7 to factory defaults.

A factory reset is usually required to deal with more complex issues attributed to software errors. If the problem persists after performing the previous solutions, then you can proceed with a factory reset. This will wipe all your iPhone data, settings, downloaded apps, and other contents including those with bugs and malware. Should you wish to continue, back up all your important files, then follow these steps to reset your iPhone to factory defaults:

Tap Settings from the Home screen.

Tap General.

Scroll to and tap Reset.

Select Erase all content and settings from the given options.

If prompted, enter your device passcode to continue.

Then tap to confirm settings reset.

Wait until the reset is finished and your iPhone restarts automatically. After the restart, all settings are restored to defaults. Thus you will need to configure and set up your device as new.

Fifth solution: Restore your iPhone 7 in iTunes.

A recovery mode restore is an iOS restore method that puts your device in recovery mode and then repair and restore the system through iTunes. This usually helps when dealing with more complicated system errors including those that are caused by an iOS update. Again this will result to data loss, hence should only be considered among the last options. Should you wish to try it, then back up all important data then follow these steps to perform a recovery mode restore on your iPhone 7 through iTunes.

Connect your iPhone to your computer using the supplied USB connector or Lightning cable and then open iTunes.

While your iPhone is connected, do a force restart by pressing and holding on the Side/Power button and Volume Down button simultaneously for a while. Do not release the buttons when the Apple logo appears because you will need to put your device in recovery mode. You can release the buttons as soon as you see the Connect to iTunes screen.

When prompted with the option to Update or Restore, select Restore.

Wait while iTunes attempts to reinstall iOS and download the software for your device. The download usually takes 15 minutes. If the download exceeds 15 minutes, your iPhone will exit the Connect to iTunes screen. If that happens, just let the download finish and then go back to the previous steps to get to the Connect to iTunes screen and enter recovery mode again.

When the system restore is finished, you can proceed with the initial device setup process. Then enable necessary options and features you want to use on your device.

You can also perform a DFU mode restore in case a recovery mode restore would fail to solve the problem. A DFU mode restore is the deepest type of system you can do on an iPhone. It puts your device in a state where it’s still able to communicate with iTunes on a computer even without activating the bootloader. This allows you to restore your device even when the operating system is totally corrupted. For a more detailed walkthrough on how to perform a DFU mode restore and how it works, visit our iPhone 7 Troubleshooting page then navigate to the Tutorials section.

Seek more help

You can take your device to an Apple-authorized service center nearby if the problem persists after performing all applicable solutions. While the symptoms might have started after installing the latest version of iOS 11 platform on your iPhone 7, there’s still a chance that a faulty hardware like bad battery is to blame. Thus, it’s still imperative to have your device scrutinized by an iPhone technician. For other options and further recommendations, you can contact your carrier or Apple Support.

Connect with us

If you need more help with the use of certain functions and features of the Apple iPhone 7 smartphone, feel free to visit our Tutorial Page. There you can find a list of how-to contents, step-by-step tutorials, as well as answers to FAQs regarding iPhone 7. If you have other concerns or encountered some troubles while using the phone, you can reach us through this form. Just be sure to tell us more details of the problem or device issue(s) you may have and we will be more than happy to assist you further.

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